St. James School
Our curriculum is driven by the Diocesan Standards which aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards. St. James School uses the Integrated Learning Progression Course.
All classes are held in the school’s 1600 square foot science lab and are taught by a full-time science teacher. Students utilize Chromebooks, iPads, a large assortment of scientific equipment, as well as an outdoor garden to bring learning to life!
Fifth Grade
The four units covered are:
- Matter and Energy
- Earth's Systems
- The Solar System
- Patterns in Space
Sixth Grade
The four units covered are:
- A cell, a person and planet Earth are each a system made up of subsystems
- Weather conditions result from the interactions among different Earth subsystems
- Regional climates strongly influence regional plant and animal structures and behaviors
- Human activities can change the degree of global warming and its impact on plants and animals
Seventh Grade
The four units covered are:
- Living and nonliving things are made of atoms
- Matter cycles and energy flows in living systems and Earth systems
- Natural processes and human activities have shaped Earth’s resources and ecosystems
- Human activities can help sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services in a changing world
The St. James Seventh Grade class spends five days at the Westminster Woods Science Camp Ranch in Petaluma, California. This experience is designed to inspire an appreciation and stewardship of the natural world. The school curriculum is aligned with the California State Science Standards. Our “classroom” for the week becomes the natural environment in which students study weather, land, water and sky as well as ecological principles, plant and animal identification, and the human relationships with the environment. In addition, this week spent with classmates and students from other Catholic schools in the Sacramento Diocese provides a unique learning environment where students gain important social skills, responsibility, and independence.
Eighth Grade
The five units covered are:
- Forces, motion and energy
- Modeling motions of objects in space
- History of Earth and life on Earth
- Population changes and human impacts
- Light/Sound/Waves
